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FAQ & Troubleshooting

Capture Thumbnail says "No asset selected as screenshot source"​

No asset is selected. Pick a static mesh, skeletal mesh or actor class on the Asset tab first.

The background is not transparent​

  • Check that Custom Depth-Stencil Pass is set to Enabled on Demand or Enabled with Stencil in Project Settings → Engine → Rendering.
  • Check that Transparent is checked under Output. The Transparent badge is shown in the preview when it is.
  • The preview always shows the background. Only the captured thumbnail is transparent.

See Transparent Thumbnails.

Parts of my actor are missing in a transparent thumbnail​

Every component that should be visible needs Render CustomDepth Pass turned on in the actor Blueprint. See Actors.

My mesh disappears in a transparent thumbnail​

The mesh has Nanite turned on, and a red warning is shown below the preview. Turn off Nanite Support on the mesh, or capture it without a transparent background. See Nanite.

The HDR badge is shown in the preview​

The editor renders in HDR, for example because HDR display output is turned on. The thumbnail is then saved as EXR, TGA is not available, and transparent backgrounds don't work. Turn off HDR display output to capture PNG, TGA or transparent thumbnails.

The thumbnail looks blurry or different from the preview​

  • Keep Disable Anti Aliasing, Disable Auto Exposure and Disable Motion Blur on under Settings → Rendering.
  • Turn on Disable Eye Adaption if the brightness changes between captures.
  • The texture uses 2D Pixels (unfiltered) and no mipmaps. If you show the thumbnail much smaller than its resolution, capture it at a lower resolution or change the texture settings.

Where are my thumbnails?​

In /Game/Thumbnails by default. The folder is set with Save Dir, and the lower right corner of the window shows where the next capture goes. Click the notification, or the browse button under Last Capture, to find the texture in the Content Browser. See Output and Naming.

The capture timed out​

A notification says Thumbnail capture timed out if the capture is not done after 10 seconds. This can happen the first time you capture a transparent thumbnail while shaders are still compiling. Wait for the shaders to finish and capture again.

My settings are different in another project or on another computer​

The settings are saved per user and per project in EditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini, and are not shared through source control. See Settings.

Can I capture several assets at once?​

No, the plugin captures one asset at a time. Use camera bookmarks to capture many assets from the same angle quickly.

Is the plugin included in my packaged game?​

No. Thumbnailer is an editor plugin. Only the textures it creates are packaged, like any other texture.